India: Solar Capacity To Double This Year

With a total of 9 GW of solar capacity last December, we canâ€™t deny that India is doing great in the battle for cleaner and greener world. This 2017, Indiaâ€™s solar capacity is set to double as large projects are commissioned, with 14.2 GW of solar projects currently under development and tenders for approximately 6.3 GW are yet to be auctioned.

The renewable energy-focused consultancy, Bridge to India, expects that the countryâ€™s solar market will grow by 90 per cent in 2017, as India adds a total of 8.8 GW of capacity â€“ including 1.1 GW of rooftop solar installations.

The solar energy sector is beginning to see the effects of the ambitious target set by the government.

â€œThe large capacity addition this year is purely a case of how timelines work for these projects. Because the government was formed in 2014 and they announced the new target in 2015 and the bulk of the large tenders started coming out toward the end of 2015. So these are the projects which will start getting implemented and commissioned in 2017,â€ Managing Director of Bridge to India, Vinay Rustagi said.

However, there is still a long way to go as India has a target of setting up 100 GW of solar and 60 GW of wind energy capacity by 2022.

The growing energy sector will require $250 billion in investments to reach this target.